Local Girls, Alice Hoffman
197 pages, @ 1999
After The Caine Mutiny & The Known World, I needed something light. My friend Amy recommended Alice Hoffman to me a couple of years ago, and while she doesn’t blow me out of the water, she’s a go to author when you’re looking for something light and quick to read.
Local Girls takes place on Long Island and tells the story of one particular family with the central character being Gretel Samuelson, an adolescent teenager (gotta love those!) Teen pregnancy, college dropouts, bad boys, cancer diagnosis, divorce, drugs, destructive relationships, new beginnings…these are all themes or issues that were covered in this novella. The overarching theme though seemed to be that of unfulfilled dreams…
Gretel Samuelson is just another 13-14 year old then her world falls apart as her parents get divorced and her mother is diagnosed with cancer, her best friend gets pregnant their junior year of high school and her brother, full of promise with a scholarship to Harvard ends up working the deli counter at the local grocery store and not going to college. Gretel seems to be the only “together” character in the whole book, but she has her issues too. Her character is the most evolved character throughout the book.
If I could interview Alice Hoffman, I would ask her if she had a traumatic incident involving a violent or bad man in her life. Every book I read of hers has these awful, undependable, emotionally unavailable, controlling men in them and these woman who are drawn to them because in the beginning of the book they seem weak and swayed by “love” but then they wake up and become these strong independent woman characters. I’m curious as to the pattern, is it based on a personal experience she had or is it just a theme that she has voluntarily decided to write? This book once again followed this theme, which I was not surprised by at all, since this was my 3rd Hoffman book.
Overall, it was a light and quick read, just what I was looking for. It’s hard for me to say whether or not I would recommend Hoffman’s books. I guess it depends on what type of reader you are, if you’re looking to breeze through something in 24 hours and just zone out for a bit then you would like her books, I think.
Rating: 2.5 stars
Post in Comments:
Have you read Alice Hoffman and if so, what’s your favorite book? I think of the 3 I’ve read Practical Magic is my favorite one.
No comments:
Post a Comment